Grand final recap

Astralis won three maps out of four. Team Liquid chose Dust II and Mirage, the first and third maps. Astralis selected Nuke and Inferno, the second and last maps. From the veto phase, Cache was the leftover decider map.

Astralis won Dust II 16-1

Astralis won Nuke 16-14

Liquid won Mirage 16-14

Astralis won Inferno 16-12

On Dust II, the first map, it seemed clear to everyone that Astralis owned the game. Flawlessly, Astralis had done over 1,000 damage with a utility of over 15 rounds. Team Liquid had done nothing particularly impressive in the 16-1 match but surprisingly, they picked up their pace and went back to power in Nuke, the second map. A 2-0 series lead in favor of Astralis turned the tables one more time. The two teams showcased firepower from both sides. Russel “twistzz” Van Dulken and Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski went head to head against the fragging power of Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander for the entire Map 2.

Mirage, the third map, is where the tension started. Team Liquid finally won a map in round 30. Andreas “Xyp9x” Hojsleth helped his team to get back on track in a one-vs-three clutch in the second pistol rounds, but his teammate, Keith “NAF” Markovic, led his team to victory by guiding the charge in impacts frags on Mirage’s round 30.

The first map won by Team Liquid just prolonged the agony of Astralis. The winning team went even more aggressive in Inferno. Gla1ve and Emil “Magisk” Reif protected their CT-side from Team Liquid’s defenses and gave Astralis the title.

Astralis’ track record

Aside from winning the ESL Pro League S7 title, the team’s AWPer, Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, was awarded the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in the finale for his 24 kills per map and an impressive number of crucial multi-kills throughout the series. The team now holds the throne in the CS:GO gaming scene after winning two major competitions halfway through 2018.